Cameras on Williams PD guns will offer more evidence in officer shootings

Williams Police Department will participate in a program that uses a camera mounted on a gun to provide more evidence in the event of an officer involved shooting.

Author:
Halie Cook

Published:
3:36 PM MST December 5, 2017

A new kind of technology for law enforcement may be coming to northern Arizona.

Williams Police Department is currently participating in the Viridian Weapon Technologies Law Enforcement pilot program.

The program utilizes a camera mounted on a gun and aims to provide more evidence in the event of an officer involved shooting.

“There’s nothing more transparent than a camera on a gun,” said Lt. Darrell Hixson of the Williams Police Department.

The department has been using the guns for the last few weeks but it is not yet clear whether they will permanently adopt the program.

The camera mount has a secured storage system that can only be off-loaded through a USB cable, ensuring that only the proper officials will be able to access the video.

It also has a flashlight and starts recording immediately when removed from the holster.

“The best feature is that it turns on automatically,” said Brian Hedeen, CEO Viridian Weapon Technologies. “So he doesn’t have to decide, am I going to turn this on or not, or in an rapidly evolving situation he won’t have to think and take the time and wait to say let me activate the camera.”

There is no extra training required to use the gun and each system costs about $500.